Man who allegedly gunned down police officer in Suphan Buri arrested
A suspect who allegedly shot and killed a senior police officer in a Suphan Buri petrol station was arrested from an apartment in Chonburi’s Sriracha district on Tuesday.
Police Sub-Lieutenant Charnwit Ditjaroen, aged 53 years, deputy inspection investigator of Suphan Buri Police Station, was shot dead by a member of a group of young people comprising six men and three women, who were drinking at a PTT petrol station on Suang Taeng-Uthong Road in Suphan Buri’s Muang district on Sunday night.
A witness told police that Charnwit, who was wearing civilian clothes, warned the group about turning the music on too loud and advised them to go home, when one of the men walked up to him from behind and shot him on the nape of the neck. After the shooting, the suspect and their group fled the scene on motorcycles and a pickup truck.
Police reviewed the CCTV footage and identified the alleged shooter as Sitthiphong Jasa-ard, aged 23 years, before tracking him down to an apartment in Chonburi province. Police also reportedly found a .38 handgun, believed to have been used by the suspect.
Sitthiphong was charged with murder, possession of an unregistered firearm, and bringing a firearm to a public place without proper reason. He was brought to Suphan Buri Police Station for interrogation.
Three members of the group -- Somphot Thonglim, 26, Natthaphol Santithammethi, 26, and Montchai Sanithant, 22, had turned themselves in to Suphan Buri police shortly before Sitthiphong was arrested.